When setting up your Forecast account, it’s important to define how you manage resources. Understanding the resource management setting, Both project allocations and task assignments, how it works, what it includes, and its impact across the platform will help you make smarter decisions, boost efficiency, and unlock the full value of Forecast.
This article covers:
- What is Combined Mode?
- How to use Combined Mode
- Understanding Resource Utilization using Combined Mode
What is Combined Mode?
Combined Mode is one of three (3) resource management settings that determine how team members’ time is assigned to projects, how the heatmap is displayed, and how utilization is calculated across Schedule People, Connected Projects, and Reporting. Unlike the other modes - Allocate people to projects and Assign people to tasks - Combined Mode is not limited to a single source of truth. Instead, it uses both project allocations and task assignments.
In your company’s Admin settings, Combined Mode is defined as Both project allocations and task assignments. Combined Mode also includes Capacity Planning features such as Hard/Soft Allocations and Placeholders.
- Assign team members’ time to projects
- Interact with People Schedule
- View, manage, and report on resource utilization
Combined Mode includes additional settings for time management. Choose how time registrations impact the resource heatmap in People Schedule when selecting this setting.
How to use Combined Mode
Combined Mode enables a view of People Schedule that displays resource utilization and demand from both project allocations and task assignments. Resource utilization and demand are represented by whichever is greater for the resource for the project in that period of time.
On a project-by-project basis for a given period, Combined Mode identifies which is greater:
- Time allocated to a project or time assigned on tasks
Using Combined Mode you can:
- Identify the team members needed on a project
- Allocate time for the project using hard allocations
- Manage tentative project bookings with soft allocations
- Estimate tasks and track remaining work
- Maintain real-time visibility into your project pipeline
Learn how to work with project allocations in:
Learn how to create and manage tasks in:
All five (5) of Forecast’s standard permission profiles include the ability to create and edit tasks, however managing allocations and access to People Schedule requires permission.
Review permission profiles and ensure your team has the appropriate access using:
- You can toggle between Combined Mode and your previous setting without affecting your data.
- However, you may only revert to the setting you were using before Combined Mode.
For example:
- If you were using Allocate people to projects before enabling Combined Mode, you may only revert to Allocate people to projects—not to Assign people to tasks.
- This restriction is intentional and helps protect your existing data.
To switch to Assign people to tasks, first revert to Allocate people to projects. Then, select Assign people to tasks by confirming the warning that explains how this change will impact your data.
Understanding Resource Utilization using Combined Mode
Combined Mode controls resource utilization across all platform pages including:
- People Schedule
- Connected Projects
- Reporting
When selecting Both project allocations and task assignments, it's important to identify how time registrations affect the heatmap. Additional configuration within this setting determines how utilization is displayed in the heatmap and calculated across People Schedule and Reporting.
- The People Schedule heatmap reflects planned time from project allocations and task estimates
- Time registrations do not impact tasks, remaining time or resource utilization.
Include time registrations in the heatmap
- The People Schedule heatmap reflects hours registered and time remaining from task and project allocations.
- Time registrations do impact tasks, remaining time and resource utilization.
People Schedule
People Schedule is a visual representation of your resource assignments on projects. Combined Mode provides three (3) display options, allowing you to select the best view for managing resourcing across your entire team and project pipeline.
Each display option provides a different view of resource utilization and demand.
| Heatmap View | Heatmap Utilization Calculation |
|---|---|
| Tasks-only view |
Task estimates OR Time registrations & remaining task estimates (both from tasks assigned to the resource) |
| Allocations-only view | Project hours allocated to the resource |
| Combined view |
The greater of: Project hours/time allocated to the resource OR Time on tasks assigned for the resource |
More information on how resource utilization is calculated for Tasks-only or Allocations-only views is available in:
Combined view
The cells of the heatmap show the demand on a resource’s time compared to their available capacity during a given period. Capacity is defined as a resource’s working hours minus time-off and calendar holidays.
For each project in the selected period, Combined view compares time allocated to a resource and time assigned to tasks. The greater of the two is considered the demand for that resource on that project.
If time on tasks matches allocated project hours, the heatmap displays Allocation as the demand source.
Exclude time registrations in the heatmap
The utilization modal shows planned time as demand versus capacity (working hours - time off) for a given time period. Demand is based on the greater of: project hours allocated to the resource or time estimated on the project's tasks. Time registrations are not considered in the resource's utilization.
- People Schedule displays demand based on planned time only.
- Planned time comes from task estimates or project allocations, regardless of any actual time registered on the project or its tasks.
For example:
- A resource is allocated 160h project time for a given month.
- The resource works Monday - Friday, 8h each day or 40h each week.
- Demand based on the project allocated hours is 40h each week.
- The resource is also assigned to a task in the same project for the same time period as the allocation.
- The task has an estimate of 20h.
- Demand for the resource displays Allocation as the project allocated hours are greater than the task assigned hours for the same time period.
- Any time registrations made on the task or project do not impact the resource's demand or utilization because time registrations are excluded from the heatmap.
- Remaining Capacity is the difference between the resource's capacity and demand for the given time period.
Include time registrations in the heatmap
For periods entirely in the past, utilization is based on time registrations and appear in the heatmap with blue shading. The utilization modal calculates demand as the sum of time entries for the period.
If a period has no time registered, demand is based on the sum of future time remaining.
If a period has time registrations and time remaining (e.g. a period that spans past and future), heatmap demand is the sum of time registered and time remaining.
- People Schedule displays demand based on time registrations and remaining time.
- Past periods reflect time registered rather estimates or allocations.
- Periods that include time registrations and remaining time include both.
- Remaining time is calculated as the greater of future time allocated or time remaining on unfinished tasks.
- Time registrations for the current or future dates are not included.
For example:
- A resource is allocated 160h project time for a given month.
- The resource works Monday - Friday, 8h each day or 40h each week.
- Demand based on the project allocated hours is 40h each week.
- The resource is also assigned to a task in the same project for the same time period.
- The task has an estimate of 20h.
- The resource has logged 10h of time to the task leaving a remaining time value of 10h.
- Demand for the resource displays Allocation as the project allocated hours are greater than the task assigned hours for the same time period.
- Days in the past appear in blue and reflect the total time registered by the resource.
- Remaining Capacity is the difference between the resource's capacity and demand for the given time period.
Timesheet Approval
There is a direct connection between Timesheet Approval and the heatmap. Timesheet Approval is a company managed setting that controls the requirement for timesheet submission. When enabled, it is accompanied by two additional time approval settings, Internal Time Approval and Time-off Approval.
When Timesheet Approval is enabled:
- Timesheet entries appear in People Schedule regardless of timesheet submission and approval status.
When Internal Time Approval is enabled:
- Timesheet entries for internal time appear in People Schedule regardless of submission and approval status.
When Time-off Approval is enabled:
- Time-off entered in timesheets does not appear in the People Schedule until it is approved.
- Once approved, a time-off allocation is created.
- Time-off can only be modified from the allocation and cannot be modified from timesheets.
Connected Projects
Demand for Connected Projects is determined similarly to standalone projects appearing as the greater or hours allocated to the Connected Project or the sum of hours assigned across the sub-projects. The heatmap for team members will be available on the Connected Project Timeline, but not on the sub-project Timeline pages. Combined Mode values are not currently available within Project Timeline.
More on Connected Projects can be found in:
Utilization Report
Combined Mode introduces columns within the Standard Utilization Report for combined numbers across tasks and allocations for:
- Planned Time
- Remaining Time
- Forecasted Time
Each time category has its corresponding utilization figure, calculated by dividing the amount of time by the resource’s availability. These categories are:
- Billable
- Non-Billable
- Internal Time
To learn more using Forecast's standard Utilization Report to review your resource demand, see:
Advanced Analytics
There are no new data model fields for Combined Mode. The sample formula below dynamically calculates the higher value between task assignments and project allocations and can be used against any time period or date range.
IF (([Total Project Minutes Registered] + [Total Person Tasks Remaining Total Minutes]) >
[Total Project Allocation Minutes], ([Total Project Minutes Registered] +
[Total Person Tasks Remaining Total Minutes])/60, [Total Project Allocation Minutes]/60)
For more information on Advanced Analytics, check out:
- Getting started with Advanced Analytics (Walkthrough) and Overview of the Advanced Analytics Data Model.
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